this last week i have been walking down the deep and spiraling road to the place of my heart. my path of music, and how i have come to sing, listen and share my passion became so clear to me...i am ready now to share it with all who choose to listen to the sounds that pour through this soul. i am so grateful for my life, for all the lessons and challenges that i have walked and have chosen to walk through...and...i am grateful for the music i have written, the music i have sung since i can remember, and for those who have supported me each step of the way. including all forms of sounds, songs, traditions and paths, which have helped shape the story of my life...and now, i share with you where i have been, because it helps me know where i stand as i continue to soar...thanks for being here with me. ~'~ ena
from the early age of 4, ena has been surrounded by the practice of devotion and devotional music. raised in a mega church that was created during the "jesus movement" in the '70's, ena was infused with the love of surrender to the divine in services that she attended 3 to 4 times a week. It was here that she was exposed to the "afterglow," a room that was created for those who wanted to sing and pray more after the main service and devotional practices were finished. it was in those darkened rooms, where the musicians with bare feet and long hair, played their instruments gently, quietly and softly, that ena began to feel the presence of the divine. it would be many years later that ena would return to this prayerful and healing music, but there was more traveling, harmonizing and discovering in store for her. after graduating from UCLA, ena not only left her native california, she left her church and religion to explore the planet and observe how others practice their relationship to divinity. her travels took her to many places on the globe, where she visited and lived in nearly 14 countries. on one of many soul searching journeys, to the Hawaiian islands, ena felt inspired to ground all that she had learned in her travels; she decided to obtain her master's degree from Naropa University in Indigenous Studies. it was there she gained the opportunity to study the ancient rituals and ceremonies with indigenous elders and traditional knowledge keepers from around the world. after spending years living in the hawaiian islands, buddhist ashrams, ancient cities in europe and the sacred city of jerusalem, this program became the catalyst for ena to weave together her many journeys for truth and connection with divinity through her experiences and the transmissions of these wise guides and teachers. her program led her to an indigenous elders conference in france, where she met a medicine man who introduced her to the lakota ceremonies and rituals. this would spark a 3 year journey walking the red road and assisting this medicine man while she also apprenticed and was initiated into these sacred, traditional ways. it was in france that she recorded her first album, "sounds of the sacred" a compilation of songs sung in the inipi ceremony, a purification and rebirthing ceremony using fire, water, steam and stones. these lodges, along with multiple vision quest ceremonies, became the foundation of her healing, and the songs carved through the armor of her heart and rested there as medicine to her soul. upon the completion of her apprenticeship, ena returned to santa monica, california to deepen her work in music and healing. she recorded and released her debut album, "from within," songs written about her life experiences. during this time of recording, releasing and promoting her album, ena also played in many yoga studios, events and gatherings around Los Angeles, where she brought her sounds of devotion to others who were sharing their practice of yoga as well. she noticed how powerful it was to sing her music of devotion while simultaneously others were either responding in their yoga practice or through their voices at kirtans. this was a very powerful and inspirational milieu in which she discovered a new way to interact with the "audience." along with her music, ena continued to follow her heart and listen to the ancestors of the earth, it was during this time that she was introduced to the medicine ways of the shipibo people from the amazon jungle in peru. in these ceremonies, ena began to literally see and hear the geometric patterns of sound through the plant medicine songs, and how sound becomes dimensional in its healing when done so from a trained master. The visionary painter and healer, Pablo Amaringo, says that “plants can help all of us know the art of healing and to discover our own creativity, because the beauty of nature moves people to show reverence, fascination, and respect for the extent to which the forests give shelter to our souls.”
with each step ena has taken, she has been led to heal personal, familial, generational and collective wounds and patterns. this healing has brought her to a place of deep gratitude for not only her own liberation, but also the liberation of all those who choose it. ena's journey has also brought her to find love, healing, rest and ease in the expression of her truest self, the essence of who she is. this essence is expressed most definitively in her music, as she channels her connection with the divine through each inspirational and devotional song. music and medicine have woven their way through the fabric of her life, and now she has devoted herself to the expression of this through her art. she looks forward to meeting you in song and in person.
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